I thought this Peruvian specialty deserved its own entry. I´ve been anticipating eating it for several months. In the time we were at the restaurant, Kiwi Friend and I saw at least five other people order the dish.

That´s cuy (pronounced coo-ye). Your eyes are not deceiving you. There´s a guinea pig on that plate, head, balls and all.

KF and I were a bit hesitant to delve into this not inexpensive dish. We were told that it was easiest and most delicious to eat the meat with our hands and tried to oblige. We started with a part that seemed like it would be easy to eat, the legs. The dish was juicy and tender and had basically no fat. The leg meat tasted like well-cooked chicken, but the middle had a different, almost shellfish-like flavor.

Surprisingly good. I´d definitely eat this again.

The sides, by the way, are whole fried potatoes and green bell pepper stuffed with ground meat, ricotta cheese and vegetables.